Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Not all of us know the luxury of chilling at the track in a pristine toy hauler, with fresh gear, and a brand new state of the art bike with all the latest bling. For those of you out there on a budget, here are a few tricks of the trade to keep your wallet from getting in the way of pounding laps.

- Plan ahead: Making a budget and planning out your weeks of riding will help immensely. Knowing where you want to ride will help keep a balance of how you spend what little funds you have.

- Pick and choose: If money is tight, you aren't going to make it to every practice and race. So decide where your priorities are at. Whether it be practice day hero, strictly doing races, or making it a priority to hit up more tracks than just those in your local area. Check the weather ahead of time, and make sure you are going to be getting the best experience for your dollar.

- Be lady like: Shop for sales! Check the clearance racks or the blowout stuff online. If it's something that is ultra cheap, and an item you may not need at the moment, get it anyway. Better to have parts at hand that were inexpensive, than to wait until something breaks and pay full price. Last years gear was cool looking too, and will cost you about half the price.

- Stay safe: Nothing hurts a budget rider like medical bills and costly repairs. Don't ride over your head and risk your body writing checks that you can't cash. Same with your mount. Make sure you stay on top of routine maintenance. It doesn't get much worse than missing prime weeks in the spring and summer because you're saving up to rebuild the top end.